John step hens on



UNITED STATES ATE-NT FFIOE.

JOHN STEPHENSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LAMP-DOOR LATCH FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 336,170, dated February 16, 1886.

Application filed December '23, 18a).

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN STEPHENSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-LampDoor Latches, of which the following is a specification.

Each end lamp of a street-car is placed in a box or lamp-house at the upper angle of the car ends, above the corner seats, more often occupied. It is the custom for the lamptrimmer to remove and replace the lamps while the car is in service and frequently crowded. The lamp-house door is hinged at the top,and usually, if fastened, is with a small hook. The trimmer, while holding the two lamps ofthe car in one hand, must with the other hand unfasten and hold up the door, remove the chimney and exhausted lamp, and place in position the newly-trimmed lamp. This operation is rendered more difficult when the car is started before thelamp act is finished,and in the hurry the lamp-house door is often left unhooked, as the operation sometimes requires the use of both hands. lVhen the door is left unfastened, it swings to and fro, causing or permitting the air to be sucked down the smoke-chimney, so that the lamp burns sluggishly or the flame is extinguished.

My invention remedies the difficulties cited, with others not named, by fastening the door with aspring-latch located partly beneath and partly above the house-floor, so that when the door is dropped the latch will catch and hold the door closed. One hand can unlatch and lift the door open, where it is held by an S- hook adapted to the purpose, suspended to a rafter of the car-roof, so that its own gravity brings it to the perpendicular and holds it there. Thus,when thedoor is lifted. open, the lower end of the S-hook is pushed sidewise until the edge of the door passes above that member, which immediately recovers from its displacement and catches and holds open the door, leaving the hands of the lamp-trimmer free to manipulate his lamps. When this is done,a touch to the S-hook releases the door, and its lower edge falls and passes the head of the spring-latch, which instantly recoils and holds the door shut.

Lamp-houses are usually made with a central hole in the floor, of size sufficient to re- Scrial Xo.'lF6,5$2. (No model.)

ceive the wick-well of the lamp, and the front edge of the floor-hole is so near to the lamphouse door as not to allow space for fastening the spring-latch beneath. The floor-hole is better closed, so that no atmospheric connection may exist between the lamp-house and the interior of the car, because such connection permits the outside atmosphere to be sucked down the chimney and extinguish the light or cause it to burn sluggishly, heating the lamp-house, melting the quicksilver from the glass reflectors, cracking the glass, and

exploding the lamp, and at times otfending the passengers with the fumes of the oil. The hole in the floor also permits drippings of oil to fall on passengers. All of these I remedy by placing a drip-cup beneath the lamp-house floor, and covering the hole in the floor, so that there is no passage for air or oil. I also utilize the broad rim of the drip-cup to limit the action ofthe spring-latch,so that it cannot be readily bent to inefficiency. The springlatch is made ofspring metal, formed as shown in the drawings, the lower member elongated and made with a latch-head, the upper member being fastened to the upper side of the lamp-house floor, and the spring continuing via the niche or hole to and along the under side of the floor, between the latter and the broad rim of the dripcup, with its head beyond but contacting with the door-face.

The construction of the features above described is specifically illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an inside end elevation of sufficient ofa tramcar to illustrate my improvement. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 1 2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a partial plan of the bottom of the lamp-house.

A represents the lamp-house, and B the lamp-house door, which is hinged by hinges a to the inner side, q, of the lamp-house.

D is the catch, shown in the form of an S- hook, but capable of being otherwise constructed so that when the door 13 is turned upward to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, the hook will be first forced back, and will then fall inward with its shoulder below the end stile of the door.

I) is the floor of the lamp-house, and in this floor is the central hole,w,and c is the springcatch, having a head, p,with an inclined face is suitably secured. When the door is brought toward a closed position, it strikes the in- I clined face of the head of the catch, which is forced downward, and then springs upward as the edge of the door passes the abrupt shoulder, and secures the door firmly in position.

E is the drip-cup having a sunken portion surrounded by' a broad flat rim, 8, and the sunken portion occupies a position below the hole 01:, while the rim fits against the under side of the bottom b,and also crosses thelatchspring, so as to limit the motion of the latter, impart increased stiffness to the spring action, and prevent the spring from being carelessly bent out of position.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim- .1. A tram-car with its lamp -house door hinged at the top, and its lower edge held by the head ofa spring-latch, the spring passing inward and under the floor of the lamp-house, and then rising up through the floor and thereto secured near the tail end of the spring, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A tram-car with its lamp house door hinged at the top, the door held shut by the head of a latch located beneath the house-floor, while the fastened end of the latch-spring is above the house-floor, the lower edge of the 5 door when unlatched swinging upward, and the end stile of the door contacting a hook, which automatically catches and holds up the door until it is released, and then in falling is automatically secured by the latch, as and for 40 the purpose described.

3. A tram-car with its lamp-house door held shut by a spri ng-1atch,with its head or operating end below the house-floor, while its tail end,contributing to the elasticity of the spring, 4 5

and prevents it from being carelessly bent, as 50 and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my'name to this specification in the presence of two subscr bing witnesses.

JOHN STEPHENSON.

'Witnesses: I

J os. B. STEPHENSON, STUART A. STEPHENSON. 

